Insects

Insects and bugs for lunch! Here in Europe it still sounds bizarre, but it's a natural snack and often even a meal in several countries worldwide. Ernst Klijzing served us grasshopper and a risotto with worms in Amsterdam.

You will like him from the first moment, although you can never really tell when he is joking or talking seriously. Probably that's his secret! Originally he makes honey and now also makes insect and worm dishes and brings them to markets.

He accurately showed us how people react on his assortment. Fright, scepticism, hesitation, tasting then satisfaction - usually that's the order. Ernst thinks of the insects and grasshoppers as alternative food which can replace and complement beef, pork or other meat in our diet.

His speciality is to serve worms with apple as they also come together in nature. The risotto is made of carefully frozen worms. The desert was a grasshopper on a stick. Gergő tried this one and had a nice experience! Tasted like fried, crispy fish and it's skin.

In 2010 Professor Dr. Marcel Dicke from University Wageningen talked in a TED Talk about bugs and insects in our diet. According to his lecture an average person eats half kilograms of insects per year without even realising it.

The worm gets into a tomato which will get produced as tomato sauce. But there is an other example. The Surimi crab and shrimp stick is also coloured with kosnil, which they get from mealybug. There are 150- 180 thousand kilograms of mealybug bred industrially yearly. One kilogram is 30 euros, so it's a good deal!

Until 2050 there are going to be 9 billion people on the planet, but what are we going to eat? Professor Dicke listed the advantages of eating insects. Relatively cheap production, they are resistant against diseases, they're not producing too much waste during preparation and they are rich in calories.

The calories in 1kgs of grasshopper equals to 10 hot dogs and 6 Big Mac. The professor opinion is that it's time to change our european beliefs of insects and introduce them to our diet. The lecture is very interesting, worth to watch.